Article of decoration

ABSTRACT

An article of decoration having two juxtapositioned elastically flexible parts which are supported on a flexible rope or wire and are interconnected at points circumferentially spaced along their peripheral edges, and a spacer member located on the rope between the parts for spreading the two parts apart when the article is in an operative position, and for permitting the two parts to collapse or close together when the article is in an operative position.

United States. Patent [151 3,646,695

Pfeiffer 1 Mar. 7, 1972 [54] ARTICLE OF TION 2,201,201 5/1940 Protz ..16l/16 1,669,748 5/1928 Greger ..46/58 [72] Inventor: Peter-Michael Pfeifler, Munwh, Germany 1,880,835 10/1932 Crickmer ..40/39 [73] Assignee: REFEKA Reklnme-, Festund Karnevals- 32 l H elfabfik GmbH Munich Germany Larty [22] Filed: June 4, 1970 Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell Assistant Examiner-J. H. Wolff PP 43,412 'Attomey-George F, Dvorak, Stephen T. Skrydlak and Marden S. Gordon [30] Foreign Applicahon Priority Data ABSTRACT June 9, 1969 Germany ..G 69 22 957.8 An article of decoration havin g two uxtaposltloned elastically 1969 Germanyw 69 42 265'7 flexible parts which are supported on a flexible rope or wire Jan. 2, 1970 Germany ..G 70 00 029.2 and are interconnected at p i circumferential), spaced along their peripheral edges, and a spacer member located on U-S. the rope between the arts for spreading the two parts apart G09! 1 5 when the article is in an operative position, and for permitting [58] Field of Search ..40/39; 46/58; 161/14, l6, l7 ithe two parts to collapse or close together when the article is in an operative position. [56] References Cited 4 Claims, 3 D Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS Jason "161/14 1 ARTICLE OF DECORATION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates generally to an article of decoration intended for purposes of decoration and eye attraction, and more particularly to an improved construction permitting an article of decoration to be easily shipped in its inoperative position, readily made operable for utilization, and after utilization is completed, readily returned to its inoperative position for storage or shipping, all such operations being accomplished without the need for any tools or special instructions.

2. Description of the Prior Art One of the uses of an article of decoration is to serve as an eye catcher for advertising purposes, and as such may be used in flyers or stringers positioned about gas stations, supermarkets, and the like to attract attention to the store, station, or any other areas set out by use of the decorative articles. Said such articles are intended only for temporary usage; it would thus be preferable to be able to rapidly assemble and position the articles when needed, and then rapidly remove the articles at the completion of use and easily store the same in a minimum of space until again needed.

The decorative-type articles or novelties presently known which are similar to the present invention in that their center portions are maintained spread apart are bulky, difficult to ship, and require a great deal of time to assemble for utilization, with the same amount of time being required to disassemble the articles after use for storage or shipping. Further, since such articles are bulky in nature, a large amount of shipping space is required, so that substantial cost may be incurred when shipping the articles between different locations.

Accordingly, the problem was encountered as to developing a decorative article capable of being readily expanded and readily collapsed without the use of any tools or other auxiliary agents, and the collapsing and expansion of the same being readily accomplished without the need of referring to any type of instruction sheet or other directions.

Further, it would be necessary that such devices would automatically retain their shape as to the expanded position or to the collapsed position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention provides a readily expandible and collapsible article spreadable in the center for use in advertisements and for other eye-catching events. For purposes of illustration, a wind wheel type embodiment of the present invention has been chosen as best illustrating the novelty of the present invention, it being understood that other designs and shapes embodying the principles of the invention are considered to be within the scope of this application.

In the invention disclosed in this application, the problems encountered by prior art devices have been overcome by the provision of two elastically flexible parts interconnected at points along their outer regions and axially mounted for rotation on a rope having a spacer member positioned on the rope between the two parts. To spread the two parts apart, all one has to do is to place the spacer member generally perpendicular to the plane of each part, this being readily accomplished by merely pulling the rope tight between the two parts which will automatically place the spacer member in the proper position therebetween.

When one wishes to collapse the article, all that has to be done is to tilt the spacer member generally into the plane of the two parts, and in this way the excess rope length between the two parts is pulled between the two parts as they collapse together. The two parts, due to their resilient properties, automatically retain the collapsed position so that the article is ready for storage and/or shipping.

It is apparent that with this novel simple construction of the article, a considerable simplification of the handling and shipping of the article is brought about. Further, in view of the ease in which the article is collapsed and extended, no tools are required and almost any individual can easily expand or collapse the article without the need for special supervision or instructions.

Since in the preferred embodiment of a wind wheel it is foreseeable that a multiplicity of articles will be used at spaced intervals along a rope forming a chain of flyers or stringers, a preferred embodiment of maintaining the relative spacings between the wind wheels on the rope is disclosed which includes a series of spaced stops attached to the rope having glass beads or the like arranged between each stop and the respective outer surface of the adjacent part of the wind wheel so as to permit the wind wheel to readily rotate about the rope axes without the stops unduly interfering with such rotation.

Other features and advantages of this invention will be apparent during the course of the following description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and in which like reference characters are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the wind wheel embodiment of the collapsible article illustrating the same in its expanded or opened position;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the wind wheel illustrated in FIG. I in its collapsed or closed position; and

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view illustrating a plurality of the wind wheels of FIGS. 1 and 2 as spaced along a rope as part of a flyer and flash or stringer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration the principles of the invention are shown embodied in a wind wheel, and referring to FIGS. 1 through 3 inclusive, there is indicated generally a double propeller wind wheel 1 having two juxtapositioned propellers 2 and 3, the vanes of which are generally staggered with respect to each other in the peripheral direction. Each of the propellers 2 and 3 is equipped with an eyelet 5 positioned at the central axes and through which a rope 4 passes so as to form an axis of rotation about which the wheel 1 rotates. The vanes of the propellers 2 and 3 are interconnected by eyelets 5 at points circumferentially spaced along the peripheral edges of the vanes.

A rigid tube 6 having a diameter greater than the diameter of the eyelets 5 is positioned on the rope 4 intermediate the propellers 2 and 3 so as to spread apart the two propellers when the rope is tensioned. The propellers are constructed of resilient elastically flexible material so that upon being spread apart by the tube 6 they are simultaneously twisted in a propellerlike fashion so that the forces of the wind acting on the propeller vanes will effect the rotation of the wind wheel 1.

In order to maintain the wind wheel 1 in a relative fixed location on the rope 4, stops 8 are affixed to the rope on each side of the wind wheel, with glass beads 9 or the like being positioned on the rope between each stop 8 and its respective propeller 2 or 3 so as to act as a bearing surface between the stops and associated eyelet 5 in order to permit the free rotation of the wind wheel 1 about the rope 4.

The stop means 8 are positioned on the rope 4 with a distance 7 therebetween, distance 7 being slightly greater than the combined axial length of the two glass heads 9 plus the two eyelets 5 plus the tube 6 so as to permit the tilting of the tube 6 into the general plane of the propellers 2 and 3 whereby a corresponding portion of the rope 4 becomes pulled between the two propellers in order to permit the two propellers to collapse or close against each other due to their resilient elasticity and flexibility, this closed position being illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring specifically to FIG. 3, and as discussed herein above, wind wheel 1 described and shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may also comprise one or more items in a string or grouping of wind wheels which are aligned upon a rope 4, such rope also possibly including streamers l0, flags, or similar items. In this embodiment, as in the embodiment earlier discussed, a corresponding arrangement of the stop means 8 permits the individual wind wheels to be shipped and stored in a flatly folded manner, with the advantage that all one has to do is to pull the rope 4 tight from both ends such that all the wind wheels on the rope will simultaneously expand and spread into their open and operating position in which they are to be utilized and in which position they will automatically remain until each is later manually collapsed or closed.

It is to be understood that the form of this invention 10 herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodiment of the same, and that other forms of the wind wheel are possible as well as similar decorative articles and novelties which become spread apart by the device according to the invention and which thereafter can be folded in a simple manner in accord with the invention, so that various changes in the shape, size, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is: l. A collapsible article of decoration adapted for suspension on a flexible cable comprising:

two adjacent resilient and substantially planar members each having a central portion and an outer peripheral portion; the outer peripheral portions of each member being interconnected at points spaced about their peripheral edges; the members each having bushing elements secured approximately in the center of their central portions; the members being mounted by said bushing elements on the cable; and spacer means in the form of a thin rigid tube mounted on the cable between the members and adapted to be releaseably received by said bushing elements, the longitudinal axis of the tube being substantially parallel to the planes of the members and lying between said members when the article of decoration is in a collapsed and inoperative position, with the longitudinal axis of the tube being substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the bushings and approximately perpendicular to the planes of the members when the article of decoration is in an expanded and operable position;

whereby the central portions of the members are moved outwardly and apart from each other to their operating position by aligning the tube with the bushing when the cable is tightened, and upon loosening the cable and returning the tube to its initial position, the central portions of the members move inwardly and collapse to their initial inoperative position.

2. The article of decoration as described in claim 1 wherein the members constituting an advertising spinner are axially supported on the cable for rotation thereabout.

3. The article of decoration as described in claim 1 further characterized by stop means fixedly attached to the cable for axially positioning the interconnected pair of members thereon, the stop means being spaced apart a distance greater by at least the length of the spacer means than the combined length of the spacer means plus the thickness of the two members so as to permit the spacer means to be turned into the approximate plane of said collapsed article.

4. The article of decoration as described in claim 3 further characterized by the article constituting an advertising spinner, and by a low-friction member positioned on the cable between each stop member and the adjacent resilient member whereby the rotation of the two members is unimpeded by the stop means. 

1. A collapsible article of decoration adapted for suspension on a flexible cable comprising: two adjacent resilient and substantially planar members each having a central portion and an outer peripheral portion; the outer peripheral portions of each member being interconnected at points spaced about their peripheral edges; the members each having bushing elements secured approximately in the center of their central portions; the members being mounted by said bushing elements on the cable; and spacer means in the form of a thin rigid tube mounted on the cable between the members and adapted to be releaseably received by said bushing elements, the longitudinal axis of the tube being substantially parallel to the planes of the members and lying between said members when the article of decoration is in a collapsed and inoperative position, with the longitudinal axis of the tube being substantially aligned with the longitudinal axis of the bushings and approximately perpendicular to the planes of the members when the article of decoration is in an expanded and operable position; whereby the central portions of the members are moved outwardly and apart from each other to their operating position by aligning the tube with the bushing when the cable is tightened, and upon loosening the cable and returning the tube to its initial position, the central portions of the members move inwardly and collapse to their initial inoperative position.
 2. The article of decoration as described in claim 1 wherein The members constituting an advertising spinner are axially supported on the cable for rotation thereabout.
 3. The article of decoration as described in claim 1 further characterized by stop means fixedly attached to the cable for axially positioning the interconnected pair of members thereon, the stop means being spaced apart a distance greater by at least the length of the spacer means than the combined length of the spacer means plus the thickness of the two members so as to permit the spacer means to be turned into the approximate plane of said collapsed article.
 4. The article of decoration as described in claim 3 further characterized by the article constituting an advertising spinner, and by a low-friction member positioned on the cable between each stop member and the adjacent resilient member whereby the rotation of the two members is unimpeded by the stop means. 